SAY GOODBYE
Evolution has been around for millions upon millions of years. Many of us presently around at this miniscule point in time are clear benefactors of this astounding God created process. There is no logical reason why this process will end and so there is no need to say goodbye to the evolutionary process, it appears around for the long haul. DIVERSITY and CHANGE are the engines which drive the process and thus the lifestyle many of us know will never exist again. Say goodbye. Even in my own short history, my earlier times cannot be recreated and never will be. It seems more and more evident that we are rapidly approaching a major evolutionary 'catastrophe' which will rewrite, in a major way, the direction of evolution. The process has never been a steady upward straight line, but rather one of upward surges, interrupted by temporary declines or long flat periods of little change.
I have tried, but it is hard to figure out how human behavior and the lifestyles of those of us who are affluent can last much longer. Humans, as a whole, are not yet capable of responsible behavior in the complicated and diverse global environment comprising our existence. On paper we are bright enough to comprehend our responsibilities but in the end greed, selfishness, illusions, lack of empathy, and tunnel vision are driving us down a fatal path.
We understand a lot, we follow through with too little. We understand overpopulation of any species is self destructive but we cannot discipline ourselves, in any organized way, to enforce responsible human reproduction. It is not even much of a discussable point. The world population has like doubled in size since my short time on the planet. We understand natural resources are limited, but act just the opposite and make economic GROWTH our focus. We understand the Golden Rule---all human societies do---but all of us practice this Rule mostly when convenient to do so. We all understand freedom, justice, and the value of diversity but we use our prejudices to limit freedom and justice to others not like us. We understand through life observations that bad and good things can happen to almost anyone but choose to believe God will guide us through the minefields of life IF we are born into the right religion, practice the right rituals, and pray often enough for his assistance. We understand basically how evolution works and how interdependent plant and animal species are on each other in the process, but suffer the illusion that God has given us unlimited dominion over all other species, even the natural resources of the planet. There is no logical basis to believe this, or that humans are God's favorite species, let alone that God made man in the image of himself and thinks like man. No, we invent a God of our liking so that we can justify our individual and collective behaviors as some sort of religious exercise. It is natural enough and easy enough to like ourselves, but the Golden Rule is such a stress as to be in effect mostly when convenient. We understand our individual needs but rarely understand when enough is enough, when enough is as good as a feast.
Part of being fortunate enough to live relatively healthy years in one's terminational phase of life is the chance to say goodbye to so many aspects of one's formative and productive years. For me, it is time to start my farewell tour---to the places of my formative years, to places of my productive years, to the many favorite spots of nature. Of course everything has changed except some of the nature spots and with all the climate uncertainties bearing down on us from man's unrelenting exploitation of our natural resources, these nature settings may change in a short time too. Nature, of course, never vanishes. It changes but will still be there. It is we who vanish like wisps of incense which make a temporary impact and are gone with the wind. This year I plan to make a farewell tour of Rte 1 in California, the redwood forests, Yosemite, my old home town, my alma maters, my former places of employment, and continue each year with my farewell tours. There are, of course, new places I could travel to, but the past means more to me than a present which is mostly irrelevant to someone my age. Farewell tours are not sad, but rekindle fond memories. The sad part is remembering so many who were part of these memories who are long departed from life. I can still feel their essence, whether they be friends, parents, co-workers, pets, teammates, historical admired figures, whatever. What is there left to really do, in the last analysis, but to be grateful for your many unearned blessings in life, to assemble all the pieces of life's puzzle to finalize your understanding of the meaning of life, and then to return money fortunate to have been earned back into the society from which this money came---directing such money to those most in need. Fair is fair and let the Golden Rule prevail so that justice is done.
The wheel of God's evolutionary process spun, we were dealt our cards, we did the best we could with what we had to play with, we used our free will to make a lot of decisions which took us down paths of our own choosing; we learned, we forgot, we failed to learn, we did right by others sometimes, but never all the time, and we strutted about on life's stage, full of energy and sometimes fury, creative occasionally, were swept along with the culture of the times, stood for the right as best we saw fit, but too often our motives and actions were self serving, seldom seeing the big picture but with blinders on often ignored injustice, and in so doing we failed the Golden Rule; and each time we morally failed we made personal contentment elusive; instead we chased false rainbows of materialism, power, sex, titles, popularity, 'family values', fame, and all the other categories of life upon which, if 'enough is enough' fails to reign us in, leaves us a curmudgeon wading in the shallow end of contentment. The finish line is a great leap into the great unknown. The only thing of permanence is TIME. TIME STAYS, WE GO. Say goodnight Gracie.
